A fluoropolyether is obtained, for example, by photooxidation of a perfluoroolefin, ring-opening polymerization of a partially fluorinated oxetane compound, fluorination of a hydrogenated polyalkylene compound (Patent Literatures 1 and 2). In these methods, it is generally known that a final product having too much molecular weight is obtained and use thereof is practically restricted. In practice, these high-molecular weight product was applied only to the limited use. Among very interesting applications, there is an application in electric or electronic fields in which a low-molecular weight fluoropolyether is required.
A process is known in which a fluoropolyether having no hydroxyl group is cleaved using a Lewis acid to obtain a low-molecular weight fluoropolyether (Patent Literatures 3).
However, a process is not known in which a fluoropolyether having hydroxyl group is cleaved to obtain a low-molecular weight fluoropolyether, since the fluoropolyether deactivates a Lewis acid.